In 1859, he was a corporal in the Alexandria Artillery. 1861 had him with the Old Dominion Rifles. When Civil war came, he was an apothecary in Alexandria. He enlisted on 17 April 1861. He was a sergeant in Company H of the 17th Virginia Infantry. On 30 June 1862 he was captured at Frayser's Farm and sent first to Fort Columbus, New York, then Fort Warren, Massachusetts. On 31 July 1862 he was exchanged and released. Wounded on 26 April 1862, he returned to duty in January of 1863 as a clerk at Camp Winder, then Camp Lee, Richmond. He was captured again on 4 January 1865 and sent to prison at Point Lookout, Maryland. He was released on 15 May 1865 after taking the oath. The war was over. Postwar, he became the City Surveyor of Alexandria and then a Civil Engineer. He was employed near Columbus, Georgia, when was killed by a blast, a piece of stone striking him in the head. A quote said, "he was a good man and an expert civil engineer."